When the situation is literally a matter of life and death, you don’t want to leave anything to chance. We use our smartphones and tablets to play all sorts of games and keep tabs on our daily chores, but what if you are faced with a real life emergency that calls for some real life help? Before the paramedics can make it to the scene, you may really need to use some emergency first aid apps on your iPhone or iPad.

These apps, while surprisingly comprehensive, will never be a true replacement for traditional first aid training from a licensed professional, but they will help you get started on handling all sorts of different medical emergencies. This can be particularly useful in the case of natural disasters and other circumstances where doctors and paramedics may take some extra time to arrive at the scene.

First Aid by American Red Cross

Dubbed one of the apps “you don’t want to miss” by Mashable, the official American Red Corss first aid app allows you to carry around expert advice in your pocket for when an everday emergency befalls you. Not only do you get step-by-step instructions for how to handle first aid scenarios, but you also get videos, interactive quizzes and other multimedia content. It’s all preloaded, so you don’t need an Internet connection for it to work.

Emergency First Aid & Treatment Guide

Working closely with the American Heart Association and Red Cross, the staff at phoneflips were able to put together this comprehensive guide to emergency first aid and treatment. It too comes with full offline access, so you can handle almost any emergency quickly, correctly, and safely. Topics include choking, CPR, asthma attacks, shock, fractures, neck injuries, seizures, fainting, nosebleeds, insect bites, and even emergency births.

St John Ambulance First Aid

While the first aid advice contained in this app is geared toward a British perspective with a basis on UK protocols, the information is largely also valid for an American audience and for emergency situations all around the world. The step-by-step diagrams are easy to follow and they cover a broad range of possible situations like fainting, burns, hyperventilating, chest pain, CPR, stings, and allergic reactions.

First Aid White Cross

Covering first aid information that you’d need to treat adults, children, and infants, this app is designed to be easy to use while still providing you with all the advice and instructions that you’d need to handle an emergency situation. Developed by the White Cross Rescue Association, this first aid app handles circumstances like blocked airways in infants and how to properly perform a cardiac massage. Emergency call numbers are listed for number of countries too, like Brazil, China, Italy, and Mexico.

Pocket First Aid & CPR from the American Heart Association

It’s usually best when you get your information from trusted sources and professional organizations that specialize in the information that you seek. When it comes to cardiovascular health and medical concerns, there are few authorities quite as prominent as the American Heart Association. This first aid app contains a huge library of videos and high-resolution illustrations, as well as an effective search function, enhanced media profile section, CPR instructions, choking instructions, and instructions on how to use an automated external defibrillator. Again, it should be noted that apps like this are not a complete substitute for real CPR and first aid training, but the general knowledge could really help out you and your loved ones during a medical emergency situation.

A freelance writer and professional blogger based out of Vancouver, Canada, Michael Kwan focuses primarily in the areas of consumer electronics, entrepreneurship, and personal development. He blogs six times a week at Beyond the Rhetoric. Follow him on Twitter: @michaelkwan